You Are In: USINFO > Topics > International Security > The U.S. and the U.N.

Bush Urges U.N. to Support Iraq, Afghanistan, Fight Terrorism

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, right, meets U.S. President George W. Bush at the 59th session of the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 21, 2004, in New York. (AP/WWP)

United Nations -- In a speech to the 59th General Assembly, President Bush urged nations to show their commitment to democracy by supporting Afghanistan and Iraq as the two nations face increased terrorist attacks to undermine upcoming elections.

And Bush said the United States "will stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes of freedom and security are fulfilled."

By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- In a speech to the 59th General Assembly, President Bush urged nations to show their commitment to democracy by supporting Afghanistan and Iraq as the two nations face increased terrorist attacks to undermine upcoming elections.

Bush said the United States "will stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes of freedom and security are fulfilled."

Freedom is finding a way in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush said, but "the liberty that many have won at a cost must be secured. As members of the United Nations, we all have a stake in the success of the world's newest democracies."

Addressing leaders of the United Nation's 191 member nations September 21, Bush presented his agenda to: fight human trafficking; protect human rights, especially the rights of women and children; ban human cloning; aid developing nations; and promote hope and progress over hatred and violence.

In the audience were President Hamid Karzai of the Transitional Government of Afghanistan, and Ayad Allawi, the prime minister of the Interim Government of Iraq, along with President Luiz Lula da Silva of Brazil; Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar; President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania; President Janez Drnovsek of Slovenia; and El Haj Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon.

Bush proposed establishing a "Democracy Fund" to help countries lay the foundations of democracy, and he said the United States would make the initial contribution.

The president's remarks focused on helping fledgling democracies, especially Afghanistan and Iraq, and fighting terrorism from Madrid and Istanbul to Jerusalem and Beslan, in the Russian Federation.

"Our great purpose is to build a better world beyond the war on terror," Bush said. "Not long ago, outlaw regimes in Baghdad and Kabul threatened the peace and sponsored terrorists. These regimes destabilized one of the world's most vital -- and most volatile -- regions.

"We are determined to destroy terror networks wherever they operate -- and the United States is grateful to every nation that is helping to seize terrorist assets, track down their operatives, and disrupt their plans. We are determined to end the state sponsorship of terror -- and my nation is grateful to all that participated in the liberation of Afghanistan."

Bush said that the Afghan people are showing "extraordinary courage under difficult conditions" to fight Taliban holdouts and strike against terrorists.

The people of Iraq have regained sovereignty, Bush said, and "the U.N. and its member nations must respond to Prime Minister Allawi's request, and do more to help an Iraq that is secure, democratic, federal, and free."

A main goal of terrorists is to undermine, disrupt, and influence elections, he said. "And we can expect terrorist attacks to escalate as Afghanistan and Iraq approach national elections."

"The work ahead is demanding. But these difficulties will not shake our conviction that the future of Afghanistan and Iraq is a future of liberty. The proper response to difficulty is not to retreat -- it is to prevail," the president said.

Bush said nations must also help reformers in the Middle East as they work for freedom and democracy, especially in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"Good will and hard effort" can revive the roadmap for peace even after "the setbacks and frustrations of recent months," the president said.

Israel, the president said, "should impose a settlement freeze, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, and avoid any actions that prejudice final negotiations."

Bush also touched on the crisis in Sudan and called on Khartoum "to honor the cease-fire it signed and to stop the killing in Darfur."

History will honor the high ideals of peace, human rights, and better standards of living throughout the world set by the U.N. Charter, Bush said. "Let history also record that our generation of leaders followed through on these ideas, even in adversity."

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who opened the general debate with a call for "our generation" to step up to the responsibilities of the 21st century, issued a plea for all nations -- "strong and weak, big and small" -- to return to the rule of law, respect innocent life, end discrimination, and stop violence. The prevalence of such acts "reflects our collective failure to uphold the law, and to instill respect for it in or fellow men and women," he said.

"Today, we must look again into our collective conscience and ask ourselves whether we are doing enough," Annan said.

The secretary-general said that the international community has enacted an impressive body of norms and laws on issues from trade to terrorism, from the law of the sea to weapons of mass destruction. But, he said, "too often it is applied selectively, and enforced arbitrarily. It lacks the teeth that turn a body of laws into an effective legal system."

"The role of law is at risk around the world," Annan said. "Again and again, we see fundamental laws shamelessly disregarded."

"Throughout the world, excellencies, the victims of violence and injustice are waiting; waiting for us to keep our word. They notice when we use words to mask inaction. They notice when laws that should protect them are not applied," Annan said.